Will Grayson, Will Grayson

1. Will Grayson, Will Grayson David Levithan John Green

2. Key Topics • LGBTQ YA Literature • Terminology • Themes • Lambda Literary • Embedded Narratives • Intertextuality

3. LGBTQ YA Literature • The first YA novel with gay content was John Donovan’s I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip was published in 1969. • Another important pioneering text, Nancy Garden’s Annie on My Mind, was released in 1982.

4. Terminology • The acronym LGBTQ refers to the umbrella concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning individuals. • Academics will often refer specifically to gay literature to reference a text that deals with any LGBTQ content, or they may choose to be more specific by referring to a text with, say, lesbian content.

5. Terminology • The term “queer” used to be viewed solely as a pejorative (negative) term used to reference gay individuals; however, over the last two decades scholars and activists have re-appropriated the term “queer” and use it synonymously with “gay literature” or as literature that exhibits what Donald Hall has termed “queer qualities.”

6. Terminology • Hall notes that queer fiction typically includes: • “a refusal of a naturalized binary of hetero- and homosexuality;” • “a politicizing of the interplay of sexuality and identity;” and • “a resistance to facile closure on questions of sexual identity.”

7. Themes in LGBTQ Literature • Earlier texts, such as M.E. Kerr’s popular Deliver Us FromEvie(1994), featured straight protagonists who came to terms with having a gay family member or friend. • The emphasis in these early texts was on normalizing the idea of “accepting” a gay person into one’s social circle. In other words, the intended audience was assumed to be predominantly straight, and it was their concerns that were featured.

8. Themes in LGBT Q Literature • In the 1990s and early 2000s, texts began to focus more upon the experiences of first-person narrators who struggled with coming out to parents and withstanding discrimination. These texts were often structured as problem novels, with the problem – how to navigate a resistant social climate – taking up most of the focus of the narrative. Examples of these text include Alex Sánchez’s Rainbow Boys (2001) and Dale Peck’s Sprout (2009).

9. Themes in LGBTQ Literature • Recently, a number of authors, including David Levithan and John Green, have argued that authors should depict LGBTQ youth in ways that move beyond the inherent conflict and trauma that characterizes most gay teen literature. • In 2003, Levithan published the groundbreaking romance novel, Boy Meets Boy, which focuses primarily upon two young men falling love and posits a community that is basically free from discrimination. This utopian text has served as a model for many subsequent authors.

10. Lambda Literary • In 1989, the Lambda organization was founded with this mission: the organization “nurtures, celebrates, and preserves LGBT literature through programs that honor excellence, promote visibility and encourage development of emerging writers.” • The Lambda Literary website includes bibliographies of some of the best LGBTQ literature available for teen and for adult readers.

11. Embedded Narratives • This semester, we have already encountered examples of embedded narratives: • Letters and newspaper articles appear in Blume’sForever; • Advertisements and news programs appear in Anderson’s Feed; and, • Legal memos in Stork’s Marcelo in the Real World. • Embedded narratives provide additional information and voices to a narrative.

12. Embedded Narratives • In Green and Levithan’sWill Grayson, Will Grayson, two quasi-embedded narratives help us to understand the action: • Isaac’s instant messages with the Naperville Will Grayson; and • Tiny’s musical • These embedded narratives focus on some of the most joyous and painful aspects of the text, and we will want to spend some time over the next week thinking about how they function.

13. Intertextuality • Another important literary term is “intertextuality,” which refers to the act of one author using a segment or making a reference to another text. For instance, in Marcelo in the Real World, Marcelo references many biblical texts, as does the rabbi he visits. These mentions make a direct commentary on real life issues that Marcelo is facing. • Green and Levithan’s text also includes intertextuality, especially with popular cultural referents. We will spend time this week, considering how those referents function in the narrative.